day, March 2, 2001
O PINION
Page 7
THE BATTALION
in adj.Thisrai
u get an ad®?
juled to endte
Hie Scientific Revolution
Evolution has rightful place in nation’s schools; however, religion does not
ip
InAueust 1999,
Cl's 1 :".: the Kansas
.com three hour I Board of Edu-
contoTemotion hi indsided
visit www.camp^ie Scientific
noon. Part-tm«|orld by VOtillg
)eliminate ref-
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i Bxt.neiormott aeory of evolu- |
anted tor pj- ' orlli'om the state public-school
“J" urlculum.
'orter person
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. Call 823-17
* hiring smiling"' Creationists hailed it as a moral
swpkwy&Tx* ictory. Kansas Gov. Bill Graves
3rill, part-timenw ailed it “terrible, tragic, embar-
assing.” Since then, Kansas has
can 28i-37Miii^ unc ier intense fire from the
50rtunl,y M^ cientitle community, becoming
v (8t3)96o-5:'; m finternational laughingstock”
n the words of the Topeka Capi-
alyournal.
But Kansas, ironically, has
handcvioped 1 ivolved. Two weeks ago, the board
rs/wk. 846-33;; ^ res t ore evolution to the
^dwicnlnm. It did the right thing,
is ca# 690-t! Svolution belongs in science class-
—-ooms. Religion, however, does not.
al ' ,Mt Waken by itself, evolution is a
6 -.eedrc,. ; "well-established scientific theory.
/ S5oo-$eoo": Thousands of other scientific theo
ries obtained using the same type of
LLANEOl>nipirical evidence, like cellular
pringBreakK : respiration and atomic theory, are
iv.travelago.cor.i t aU g|-, t j n public Schools.
)RCYCLE IThe problem comes when evolu
tion is compared to the Bible. The
theories of evolution and the origin
3. 12.000-mte Of man have the unfortunate dis-
S4 ' 50C : tinction of directly conflicting with
ETS aliteral interpretation of the Bible.
For example, scientists believe that
Is, snakes, fate; all species on earth originated from
,5 ' 5755 a common ancestor over billions of
nos puppy,neys-y ears ^ ut Bible states that God
all species in only six days.
good condto
R Also, scientists believe that the
yeiiow, wore: Jjlrth is more than 4 billion years
old, but the Bible implies that the
MATES Earth is only about 6,000 years old.
f .'This conflict seems irreconcilable.
tummer suBiSgu a. ,
Rock hoiio* ultras not as it the two sides can just
9573 compromise and say the earth is 2
se to campus - million years old.
i ne —i As has been the case throughout
location, $36C‘ 'hlman history, people will protect
.their religion at any cost.
o^Hardwood, - | Some fundamentalist Christians
02/26/01, 2M"'
>e Apartmenls.
have thus been advocating the re
moval of evolution from the na
tion’s schools. They have argued
that evolution is scientifically
flawed and should not be taught as
dogma. Kansas Board of Educa
tion member Steve Abrams,
speaking out against evolution,
said, “[Evolution] still comes
across that this is dogma, that this
is the only way it is.” Evolution
opponents have cited supposed
holes in the theory, such as the
If evolution
opponents are
serious about
eliminating the
theory from science
classes, then they
should consider
opposing science
classes altogether.
Evolution is based on
the same evidence
that all other
scientific theories are
based upon.
lack of a complete fossil record.
However, eliminating evolution
shows that its opponents do not
understand the purpose of science.
Whereas religion relies on
faith, science relies on solid em
pirical evidence. In science class
es, kids learn scientific theories
that have been tested and retested
in a consistent experimental and
observational pattern.
These theories are not unalter
able “dogma,” and in fact are con
stantly being modified to ensure
accuracy. If real evidence were
found against evolution and could
be consistently confirmed by re
spectable researchers, the theory
would be altered.
But despite their claims, these
fundamentalists are not interested in
whether evolution is good science.
They are only interested in protect
ing their religion. If they really
cared about good science, then they
surely would have taken great care
to craft their own arguments in a
scientific manner.
Instead, their alternatives to
evolution are actually scientifical
ly backward. As every middle
school student knows, modern sci
ence follows the scientific method,
which involves making a hypothe
sis, testing this hypothesis, and de
termining results through observa
tion and experimentation.
These fundamentalists have
presupposed a conclusion that is
unalterable (that the origin of life
is as written in the book of Gene
sis) and have used whatever evi
dence they needed to reach that
conclusion. Scientifically speak
ing, this is junk.
One example of this is the idea
of intelligent design, which has
been gaining momentum lately in
the anti-evolution community.
This idea basically states that life
on earth is so complex that it must
have been created by some intelli
gent being (namely, God).
As a scientific theory, this con
cept fails miserably. There is no
way to prove this idea. There are
no experiments one could do to
test this idea. It requires faith.
If evolution opponents are
serious atfout eliminating the
theory from science classes, then
they should consider opposing
science classes altogether.
Evolution is based on the
same evidence that all
other scientific theories
are based upon. Throw
ing out evolution would
mean throwing out a
number of other essential
scientific discoveries, in
cluding the entire fos
sil record, the Big
Bang theory, mod
ern carbon-dating
techniques, a large
chunk of develop
mental biology and
the results of the human
genome project.
These all show evidence either
that a number of species have, de
veloped from a common ancestor
or that the Earth is billions of ’
years old. Thank heavens the
Bible does not conflict with the^
theory of gravity. We could alEfcfe
weightless tomorrow.
Matt Cannon is a senior
biomedical science major.
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battauon
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w .travelago.«s ;
IS
I ssues in Iraq are becoming even
more prevalent as a new presi
dent begins to develop his for
eign policy. Since that president is
George W. Bush, the media cannot
seem to stop drawing comparisons
to the former President Bush, as he
was at the helm during the Persian
Gulf War with Iraq 10 years ago.
Despite many recent criticisms, President Bush and
the U.S. government need to do whatever they can to
free Iraq from the tyrant’s grip and help to bring sta
bility to that area.
1 To many Americans, however, this is a situation that
involves distant people in a faraway land. The closest
many Americans ever get to being involved is when
they cringe as they pull out their wallets to pay for gas.
This will all change in this month, when members of
the Iraqi National Congress (INC), an umbrella organi-
ation composed of several dissident groups, undergoes
its first round of weapons training in College Station,
he training will be handled by the Guidry Group, a se-
urity-consulting firm based in the Woodlands, as part
of a $98 million contract.
The United States officially supported the INC in
1998, when the Iraq Liberation Act was passed, promis
ing $98 million in support of lethal training for the INC
and other rebel groups. Debate over lethal weapons
training was the INC’s fiercest fight with the Clinton ad
ministration, and the training was not provided to the
INC initially under the premise that the INC was not yet
ready to challenge Saddam Hussein militarily.
This most recent training is distinguished from its
predecessors by the fact that rebels attending the five-
day seminar will be trained in firearms from pistols to
shotguns to Kalishnikov rifles. As reported by the Unit
ed Press International (UPI), “previous U.S.-backed
training for the INC has been limited to ‘non-lethaf ac
tivities, such as emergency medical care, public rela
tions and war-crimes investigations.” Lethal training, a
necessity in the fight against someone like Hussein, is a
welcome change for the INC and its members.
“This is significant because this is the first lethal
training,” retired general Wayne Downing, commander
of the joint operations task force during the Gulf War,
told UPI. “It is designed to protect, so the significance
is that this is the first time they are being trained to do
anything on this level.”
The State Department seems a bit reluctant, how
ever, to admit that lethal training is being provided.
“The skills involved are purely protective and defen
sive in nature of the type necessary for the INC to pro
tect any non-lethal presence or activities inside Iraq,”
One official said.
Many are hopeful that there may be change in the
way the U.S. government shows its support for a free
Iraq under the Bush administration. The United States
has recently pledged to enhance support for a “regime
chance” in Iraq, which basically means that Hussein
would be out.
According to the UPI, “Although Secretary of State
Colin Powell has carefully avoided making any com
ments on the military aspect of the Iraq Liberation Act,
his counterpart at the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld, is a
long-time supporter of a plan to oust Hussein through
U.S.-backed rebels.”
Rumsfeld and his deputy, Pjiul Wolfowitz, now
deputy secretary of Defense, eken sent a letter to
Clinton in 1998 that helped to lreate the Iraq Libera
tion Act. The letter said, “Iraq ltoday is ripe for a
broad-based insurrection. We ihust exploit this op
portunity.”
The letter went on to call for positioning “U.S.
ground-force equipment in the fegiop, so that, as a last
resort, we have the capacity to protept and assist the
anti-Saddam forces in the northern and southern parts
of Iraq.”
Ahmad Chalabi, one of the INC’s principal leaders,
believes said he thinks the group could attract a number
of defectors from the Iraqi military if a presence were
established inside the country. He estimated that 40
percent of the elite Republican Guard was absent with
out leave. “The Iraqi army is unwilling to defend Shd-
dam, but they are too weak to overthrow him,” Chalabi
said. To Chalabi, the five-day seminar is a far cry from
the military support and battlefield training that many
INC supporters hope for.
In order for the United States to protect its invest
ments and interests in the Middle East, the situation in
Iraq must be dealt with. The methods being used now
are not working. By aiding groups such as the INC; the
United States could deal with Hussein without unnec
essary risk.
To keep such a mission from becoming another Bay
of Pigs, however, a true commitment would have to be
made. Downing, a volunteer adviser to the INC, called
the upcoming security training a drop in the bucket.
“This is not the training they will need to put together a
liberation army.”
He estimated that this type of training would take, six
to eight months. If the Guidry Group, with “customized
solutions to security problems worldwide” gets the
training job, College Station would perhaps get a f
chance to play an even greater role in protecting the.
world from a madman.
Andrew Stephenson is a sophomore
environmental design major.
Mail Call
Female cadets have
nothing to prove
In response to Sommer Bunce’s Feb.
28th article.
Being a former female member of the
Corps of Cadets, this is only my personal
opinion, and I am not speaking for anyone
else but myself. Maj. Ray said that “for a
woman to come into the Corps and to re
main is a personal choice.”
Sure it is a personal choice but not ex
clusively for women. Every member in the
Corps, male and female alike, makes this
choice on his or her own. Then, she said
“it’s different for a young lady to date a guy
in a uniform than for a young man to date
a lady in uniform.”
My question is: Would you want to date
anyone who judges you by what you wear?
I also do not agree with Barron’s words:
“Women must go the extra mile to get the
same credit as their male counterparts ...
must prove that she is just as tough and
physically capable ... ” A
Women in the Corps are not indirectly
forced to go the extra mile to be accept
ed; they sometimes think they do be
cause they are not satisfied with who
they are or where they are. Throughout
my four years in the Corps, never once
did I have to prove anything to anyone.
And maybe that is why I didn’t have to go
the extra mile.
I was accepted as who I am. I didn’t
have to be weaker or tougher. I was simply
doing something I chose to do. I did my
best and never had to worry what other
guys thought. I was the only female in the
entire battalion my senior year, and I did
not have any gender issues with any of the
guys. Even after I dropped my military con
tract my second year, I decided to stay be
cause it was so much fun; it was an expe
rience of a lifetime.
I think that there is a misconception
on women in the Corps. Integration is a
good concept, but it seems that they are
trying to enforce it too quickly. Articles
like these do not help either. What if
every organization in the University is to
be integrated: females could join frater
nities, guys in soronties, etc. What up
roar might this cause?
From experience, my opinion is that cur
rent integrated outfits should be devel
oped into well rounded and strong integrat
ed outfits before the next could be
integrated.
You cannot just stick one female in an
outfit and call that integration. It may take
another 10 years or more before the
whole Corps could be truly integrated. Un
til then, singling women out is just a speed
bump on that road.
Trang Nguyen
Class of ’99
CARTOON OF THE DAY
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